Oh Nooooo! Or How I Missed the Boat on This Post

For some reason, I thought this week's post was all about marathon training.  So I diligently wrote up my ideas for how I'm going to train for my next marathon and posted them this morning.  But I just realized that training isn't the topic of this TiART at all.  I think I've logged a few too many miles this week . . .

So what is it that draws me to the marathon?  It started as one of those big goals on my life list.  Doing a marathon sounded really cool.  You're tough if you can do one, I reasoned, and I wanted to prove that I was tough.  I had done a few longer runs, though no actual 1/2 marathons, but I thought I could pull one off.  About that time my husband and I decided we wanted to start a family, and as I switched gears, the marathon goal started to fade a bit.  But as the months went by without getting pregnant, I started to get a little crazy.  I gave myself an ultimatum - I would do the Portland Marathon in October if I wasn't pregnant.  Nevermind that I wasn't training.  If I couldn't get my body to work the way it was supposed to, then I could at least do a marathon.  I even went so far as to sign up for the race; I still have my confirmation card.  But I was lucky and found out I was pregnant just a few weeks before the race.

And so that goal kept floating around in the back of my mind.  I started running after my first daughter was born and worked up to a 1/2.  Daughter #2 came along and the running continued.  I started getting stronger and running farther, and finally, at one summer barbecue, my little brother and I declared that we were going to do Portland that fall.  My lack of training is chronicled in the post below, as is the excruciating pain that went along with my first experience.

Still, here I am training again.  I have unfinished business with the marathon.  I want to run the whole thing.  I want to see how fast I can go.  I'd love to qualify for Boston some day.  There are so many beautiful marathons to run, and for some reason, a marathon seems like a good enough reason to travel to a new locale.  A 10k just doesn't seem worthy of a vacation.

The marathon pushes me beyond my comfort level.  I can't coast when I'm training for one (properly, anyway) - I've got to concentrate and give it my full attention.  And in a world where it seems like everything is clamoring to be heard, having myself fully in the moment as I am when I'm running long is a gift.  I guess that's why I'm drawn to the marathon.